Airline On Time Performance Statistics —Monthly

Summary—November 2018

For November 2018, on time performance over all routes operated by participating airlines (Jetstar, Qantas, QantasLink, Regional Express, Tigerair Australia, Virgin Australia and Virgin Australia Regional Airlines) averaged 74.9 per cent for on time arrivals and 76.4 per cent for on time departures. Cancellations represented 2.8 per cent of all scheduled flights. The equivalent figures for November 2017 were 80.2 per cent for on time arrivals, 81.2 per cent for on time departures and 1.8 per cent for cancellations.

This month’s on time arrivals figure was lower than the long term average performance for all routes (82.5 per cent) and the on time departures figure was also lower than the long term average (83.9 per cent). The rate of cancellations was higher than the long term average of 1.4 per cent.

Virgin Australia achieved the highest on time arrivals among the major domestic airlines at 77.2 per cent followed by Qantas at 71.9 per cent, Jetstar at 69.7 per cent and Tigerair Australia at 59.8 per cent. Of the regional airlines, QantasLink recorded 79.1 per cent for on time arrivals, followed by Regional Express at 78.6 per cent and Virgin Australia Regional Airlines at 74.9 per cent. The Qantas network (Qantas and QantasLink combined operations) recorded 75.8 per cent for on time arrivals while the Virgin Australia network (Virgin Australia and Virgin Australia Regional Airlines combined operations) recorded 77.1 per cent.

Virgin Australia also achieved the highest level of on time departures among the major domestic airlines for November 2018 at 79.7 per cent, followed by Qantas at 73.7 per cent, Jetstar at 68.3 per cent and Tigerair Australia at 61.2 per cent. Of the regional airlines, Regional Express recorded 81.9 per cent for on time departures, followed by QantasLink at 79.8 per cent and Virgin Australia Regional Airlines at 78.9 per cent. The Qantas network recorded 76.9 per cent for on time departures while the Virgin Australia network recorded 79.6 per cent.

Tigerair Australia recorded the highest percentage of cancellations (6.3 per cent) during the month, followed by Jetstar (4.0 per cent), Virgin Australia Regional Airlines (3.7 per cent), Qantas (3.1 per cent), Virgin Australia (2.4 per cent), QantasLink (2.2 per cent) and Regional Express (1.5 per cent).

Airlines’ on time performance varies across the routes they serve. Individual route data by specific airline for 65 routes are shown on pages 10-23.

Of the 65 routes which met the criteria for on time performance reporting in November 2018, the Adelaide-Gold Coast route had the highest percentage of on time arrivals (100.0 per cent) and the highest percentage of on time departures (94.6 per cent). The Brisbane-Perth route had the lowest percentage of on time arrivals (43.8 per cent) and the Ayers Rock-Sydney route had the lowest percentage of on time departures (41.1 per cent).

Cancellations were highest on the Melbourne-Sydney route at 7.6 per cent, followed by the Sydney-Melbourne route at 7.4 per cent, the Launceston-Sydney route at 6.3 per cent, the Sydney-Townsville and Townsville-Sydney routes at 5.9 per cent and the Canberra-Sydney route at 5.2 per cent.

Bundaberg Airport recorded the highest percentage of on time arrivals (90.0 per cent) and the highest percentage of on time departures (91.3 per cent). Melbourne Airport recorded the lowest percentage of on time arrivals (65.0 per cent) and Ayers Rock Airport recorded the lowest percentage of on time departures (41.1 per cent). These figures only refer to reported routes and do not cover all flights at these airports.

Table 1: Total Industry On Time Performance for November 2018

Sectors

Arrivals On Time

Departures On Time

Cancellations

Scheduled

Flown

No.

%

No.

%

No.

%

Jetstar

6744

6477

4517

69.7

4424

68.3

267

4.0

Qantas

8905

8632

6203

71.9

6358

73.7

273

3.1

QantasLink

10207

9983

7901

79.1

7965

79.8

224

2.2

Regional Express

6331

6235

4898

78.6

5106

81.9

96

1.5

Tigerair Australia

2383

2234

1336

59.8

1368

61.2

149

6.3

Virgin Australia

11910

11629

8979

77.2

9267

79.7

281

2.4

Virgin Australia Regional Airlines

739

712

533

74.9

562

78.9

27

3.7

All Airlines

47219

45902

34367

74.9

35050

76.4

1317

2.8

Qantas - all QF designated services

19112

18615

14104

75.8

14323

76.9

497

2.6

Virgin Australia - all VA designated services

12649

12341

9512

77.1

9829

79.6

308

2.4

Figure 1: Total Industry On Time Performance by month from November 2015